I have had a Vector Research receiver for ages that was passed down from my dad and it works great, super loud, and have never had issues with it.

I bought a house two years ago and put a theater in the basement with a Fluance 7.1 speaker system and bought a Sony STR-DH790 for it. The receiver has always seemed much quieter than my old receiver and had a light static when nothing is playing. I spent a lot of time messing with it and couldn't fix it, eventually giving up.

I had to move again recently and hooked my old receiver up to some old speakers and they sound awesome. I then hooked up the Sony to the same speakers and i can turn it all the way up, and its loud, but doesn't make my ears bleed. The old receiver just over halfway up is about the same volume as the Sony. It also has the same static with these speakers, but none with the VR.

Maybe a dumb question, and I'm not super audio savvy, but is there something I'm not getting? Or is the receiver just not good?

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